The City of Quincy’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) board met in a special meeting on Tuesday, September 24th to discuss details of the contract of its resigning director, Charles Hayes. Hayes gave the board members a letter of resignation on September 9th as a beginning point of his 30-day notice of termination of his contract. In it, he requested that the period be 45 days instead, to help give the board time to hunt for someone to succeed him. The board denied the 45 days and an additional request for payment of annual and sick leave.

Regina Davis was hired as interim director of the CRA until a full search is implemented. It is expected that she will also apply for the permanent position. “You’ve got an impeccable reputation. I’m looking forward to a very positive relationship with you moving forward,” said commissioner Andy Gay. She will begin work October 9th.

In the following regular city commission meeting, the board voted for its final millage rate of 4.6552 for the 2013-2014 fiscal year in a 4-1 vote. It also passed its budget for the same period in a unanimous vote. During the budget discussion, city manager Jack McLean said the city had lost utility revenues money last fiscal year during both an unseasonably warm winter and cooler summer. He said the lost revenues amounted to about $1.5 to $2 million. “The lines and trend is moving downward. Freezing (hiring, paying bills, etc.) paying things down doesn’t work. But making structural changes will work,” he said.

During that discussion, Mayor Keith Dowdell said the city board is becoming dysfunctional because “we are digging a hole by not acting as a team. When we sit up here and bash each other, we’re not a team.”

The board also approved an ordinance for the city’s rules of order and procedure on first reading. It will be given second reading at their next meeting. Commissioners also approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Florida Department of Transportation for roadside maintenance actions. They also approved an Interlocal Agreement with the Capital Region Transportation Planning Agency (CRTPA) in which Gadsden’s six municipalities and Gadsden County join with Jefferson, Leon and Wakulla counties and CRTPA in planning future transportation needs for the region.

The city spent quite a while discussing its finances. “I’m very concerned about the line of credit at Capital City Bank,” said Gay. “We have got to show some improvement and start paying down this debt, especially entering a new budget year. We need to become more diligent about paying our bills.”

“I think everyone knows we’re not like anyplace else. We’re not broke but we are fiscally challenged,” said Larry Edwards. “When public officials go to a TV station and put us in danger with our creditors, and just hurt us in general (it’s bad). We should be like family. We’re all in the same boat.”

“There’s a lot of talk about people going to the media. Those people already know about our financial problems. It doesn’t matter if we’re bad-mouthing (the city). They already know about our financial state. I want the clerk to oversee and sign off on expenditures voted on by the commission,” said Derrick Elias in making the same statement in the form of a motion.

Quincy’s attorney cautioned the board that they might be in violation of the city charter if approved and that he would advise. The motion moved forward and passed in a 3-2 vote, with Larry Edwards and Andy Gay voting no.